2018年经济学人 微电网和发展:偏远地区的福利(1)

 

A forested village in Jharkhand state, eastern India, Narotoli is home mainly to adherents¹ of Sarna, a nature-worshipping tribal² religion.

Narotoli，位于印度东部尔克汗邦的一个草木丛生的村庄，这里居住的大部分都是萨尔纳（崇拜自然的部落宗教）的追随者。

In more ways than one, it has long been off-grid³.

他们对自然的崇拜不止一个方面，这个村庄一直都是自给自足的。

Drive past a police checkpoint a few miles away and you are in territory loyal to "the guys", a euphemism⁴ for Maoist guerrillas.

开车穿过一个警察检查站几英里远，你就来到了一处忠诚于“那些家伙”的领地。

That makes Narotoli more marginalised than most places.

这使得Narotoli比其他多数地区更加边缘化。

A few months ago it became one of the last in India to benefit from a push by Narendra Modi, the prime minister,

在印度总理纳伦德拉·莫迪的推动下，印度所有村庄都通上了电，

to supply electricity to all the country's villages.

Narotoli在几个月前成为了受益于次举的最后几个村庄之一。

But the power lines are so "reliably unreliable", says an Indian executive, that they might as well be washing lines.

但是一位印度执行官表示，电力线“确实不可靠”，因此这些电力线也可能变成晾衣绳。

Two years before the grid arrived, however, Mlinda, a social enterprise, had set up a "mini-grid",

但是两年前电网运到此处之前，一家社会企业Mlinda已经建起了一种“微电网”，

a bank of batteries charged by solar panels and hooked up to homes, to guarantee round-the-clock power independent of the national network.

通过太阳能板充电并连接到各家各户，以确保全天候电力独立于国家电网。

Mini-grids are different from the rooftop solar panels and batteries (sometimes linked up in "micro-grids")

微电网不同于屋顶的太阳能板和电池（有时在“微电网”中相连接）

increasingly used in poor countries to provide LED lighting⁵ and to charge mobile phones.

这种电网在贫穷国家得到广泛应用，为LED电灯和手机提供电力。

Narotoli's 22.5-kilowatt mini-grid provides lighting to scores of homes linked by its poles and wires,

Narotoli的22.5千瓦微电网通过极点和电线为许多家庭提供灯光，

as well as powering a seed-crushing machine for cooking oil,

也为食用油轧碎机、

irrigation in the dry season and power for a poultry⁶ farm-all of which engender⁷ economic activity.

干旱季节的灌溉以及产生经济活动的家禽饲养所提供电力。

The power generated by the plant is expensive (though it costs less than villagers often pay for alternatives

电厂供电价格昂贵（虽然与村民们常用的煤油照明和柴油机灌溉相比，

such as kerosene⁸ for lighting and diesel⁹ for irrigation pumps).

这种这种方式的成本较低）。

The worry is that demand for electricity may not be enough to justify¹⁰ the installation cost.

人们的担忧在于，对电力的需求或许不够充足，不足以证明该设备安装成本的优势。

As one Indian official recently scoffed¹¹: "Why provide a Ferrari to people who need a bullock cart?"

正如近期一名印度官员笑言：“为什么要给一个需要牛车的人一辆法拉利呢？”

But Mlinda and other mini-grid installers see them as more than a way to satisfy existing demand for electricity: they are a way to catalyse development.

但是Mlinda和其他微电网安装商不仅是将此当做满足现有电力需求的一种方法：更是一种促进发展的方式。

The installers advise villagers on irrigation, farming and marketing¹² to help them develop businesses that require reliable electricity,

安装商在灌溉、农耕和市场方面为村民提供建议帮助他们发展需要可靠电力的商业

which in turn justifies¹³ the expense of installation.

而反过来也能使安装成本公平化。

1 adherents   

n.支持者，拥护者( adherent的名词复数 )；党羽；徒子徒孙

参考例句：

• He is a leader with many adherents. 他是个有众多追随者的领袖。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The proposal is gaining more and more adherents. 该建议得到越来越多的支持者。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 tribal   

adj.部族的，种族的

参考例句：

• He became skilled in several tribal lingoes.他精通几种部族的语言。
• The country was torn apart by fierce tribal hostilities.那个国家被部落间的激烈冲突弄得四分五裂。

3 grid   

n.高压输电线路网；地图坐标方格；格栅

参考例句：

• In this application,the carrier is used to encapsulate the grid.在这种情况下，要用载体把格栅密封起来。
• Modern gauges consist of metal foil in the form of a grid.现代应变仪则由网格形式的金属片组成。

4 euphemism   

n.婉言，委婉的说法

参考例句：

• Language reflects culture and euphemism is a mirror of culture.语言反映文化,而婉语则是各种文化的一面镜子。
• Euphemism is a very common and complicated linguistic phenomenon.委婉语是一种十分常见而又非常复杂的语言现象。

5 lighting   

n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光

参考例句：

• The gas lamp gradually lost ground to electric lighting.煤气灯逐渐为电灯所代替。
• The lighting in that restaurant is soft and romantic.那个餐馆照明柔和而且浪漫。

6 poultry   

n.家禽，禽肉

参考例句：

• There is not much poultry in the shops. 商店里禽肉不太多。
• What do you feed the poultry on? 你们用什么饲料喂养家禽?

7 engender   

v.产生，引起

参考例句：

• A policy like that tends to engender a sense of acceptance,and the research literature suggests this leads to greater innovation.一个能够使员工产生认同感的政策，研究表明这会走向更伟大的创新。
• The sense of injustice they engender is a threat to economic and political security.它们造成的不公平感是对经济和政治安全的威胁。

8 kerosene   

n.(kerosine)煤油，火油

参考例句：

• It is like putting out a fire with kerosene.这就像用煤油灭火。
• Instead of electricity,there were kerosene lanterns.没有电，有煤油灯。

9 diesel   

n.柴油发动机，内燃机

参考例句：

• We experimented with diesel engines to drive the pumps.我们试着用柴油机来带动水泵。
• My tractor operates on diesel oil.我的那台拖拉机用柴油开动。

10 justify   

vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护

参考例句：

• He tried to justify his absence with lame excuses.他想用站不住脚的借口为自己的缺席辩解。
• Can you justify your rude behavior to me?你能向我证明你的粗野行为是有道理的吗？

11 scoffed   

嘲笑，嘲弄( scoff的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He scoffed at our amateurish attempts. 他对我们不在行的尝试嗤之以鼻。
• A hundred years ago people scoffed at the idea. 一百年前人们曾嘲笑过这种想法。

12 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。

13 justifies   

证明…有理( justify的第三人称单数 )； 为…辩护； 对…作出解释； 为…辩解（或辩护）

参考例句：

• Their frequency of use both justifies and requires the memorization. 频繁的使用需要记忆，也促进了记忆。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• In my judgement the present end justifies the means. 照我的意见，只要目的正当，手段是可以不计较的。